Implementing Auto Tiling With Just 5 Tiles
Hacker News
February 8, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
Auto-tiling is a revolutionary technique in 2D game development that simplifies level design by programmatically placing tiles based on their neighbors. This article introduces a method inspired by Nonsensical 2D’s video, which achieves auto-tiling using just five base tiles. By separating physical tiles (with colliders) from visual tiles, developers can create complex patterns with minimal effort. The system uses a bitmask to represent tile relationships, allowing for efficient placement of visuals based on the corners of neighboring tiles. This approach drastically reduces the number of required tiles while maintaining flexibility and visual variety.
The core concept involves dividing the game world into two layers: one for physical structure and another for visuals. By offsetting the visual layer, each tile’s position is determined by its four neighbors in the physical layer. A 4-bit mask is used to encode these relationships, mapping them to specific tiles from a predefined array of 16 permutations. This system allows developers to reuse five base tiles—corner, side, opposing corner, inwards corner, and full tile—to create intricate patterns. The method also supports programmatically rotating or flipping tiles to generate additional variations, ensuring visual diversity without increasing the tile count.
The implementation is engine-agnostic but can be adapted for specific platforms like Godot. In Godot, developers can store tile permutations as texture atlas coordinates, enabling seamless integration with the engine’s tools. The article highlights how this approach simplifies level design by reducing complexity and offering a scalable solution for both small and large projects. By separating visuals from physics, developers gain flexibility in creating diverse environments while maintaining efficiency.
This method matters because it addresses a common challenge in game development: managing complex tile relationships without overwhelming resources. By using just five tiles, the system reduces overhead and allows indie developers to create visually appealing levels with minimal effort. The approach also offers future-proofing, as the same
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Originally published on Hacker News on 2/8/2026